1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to doing yard work around the house and more particularly concerns a method and apparatus for collecting fallen leaves, lawn clippings and trash when doing yard work and inserting such material into a trash bag which is fully open without being required to stand there and hold it open.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Anyone who has done yard work around their home is familiar with plastic trash bags. These bags are generally made from film ranging from 0.5 to 1.2 mil thickness. The common types available differ somewhat in diameter and length, but not by much. They are advertised as fitting into garbage cans up to thirty gallons, thirty-three gallons or thirty-nine gallons.
These bags are very handy and economical. The problem arises when it comes to filling them. An accepted technique is to place the open bag into a metal or plastic garbage can and fold the lip of the bag over the top edge of the can. This assumes that a can is available, the can is empty, and it is the correct shape to suit the bag.
Under ideal conditions, the bag in the can accepts leaves, grass clippings, pine needles, or whatever, without falling into the can with the trash. Once the bag is full; it must be lifted from the can. According to U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,463, which issued on Dec. 10, 1985, to Boyd, "The load in a trash bag may typically be as high as 30-50 lbs." Column 1, lines 21-22.
To lift that weight itself not easy, but to add to the difficulty the lower portion of the bag is swelling and gripping the can like a cork in a bottle. Now the can, must be held down while the full bag is drawn out.
To fill a trash bag without using a can as an assist is also very difficult. It is almost impossible to lay a bag on the ground and arrange the opening to anywhere near its full extent. Bags having a hem top edge with a drawstring are somewhat better in this regard than bags with a simple sheared edge, but even the hemmed bags leave much to be desired.
As the prior art of making a bag opener includes some of the following references; In cases where elongated curved sheets of Williams (U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,339) of February 1993 and the double rings of Sobolik (U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,340) of May 1997, also the use of a stand and clamping devices of Navarro (U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,219) of August 1992 and the weaving of rod Steinmetz (U.S. Pat. No. 5,743,651) of April 1998, as well as Blair (U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,219) of January 1992, Hayes (U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,103) of April 1991, Boyd (U.S. Pat. No. 4,558,463) of December 1985, Washington (U.S. Pat. No. 4,287,701) of September 1981.
While all the above show advantages in the art of keeping bags open and allowing a person to fill them, there appears to be none as flexible and have the multiple quick locking attachment to a portable post as well as the given ability to form the shape when put to the ground to allow a person to rake directly into the bag being held opened and have the flexibility to instantly return to its circular shape when pressure applied to form the wide opening is released, as the invention being filed for herein.